The poor British weather during July has combined with the country's prevalence of home broadband connections to boost online retail sales by 80%, claims the London-based Interactive Media in Retail Group.

Sales rose from their moderate level of Â£2.34bn last year to a hefty Â£4.2bn during July this year, nearly doubling online retail sales. Typically the small matter of July being the country's wettest in 241 years played its part. The accessibility of home broadband is also credited.

So what were people buying you ask? Electrical goods topped the charts while revenue from clothes and accessories followed close behind with a gain of 56%.